


Vigilante

by Zanganito



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Death Note, Justice League
Genre: Action/Adventure, Crossover, Gen, Humor, Martial Arts, Oops, Vigilantism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-24
Updated: 2016-07-20
Packaged: 2018-01-02 13:19:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1057236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zanganito/pseuds/Zanganito
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a terrible mistake with the Death Note, Light has a change of heart and attempts to make up for past wrongs in his own twisted way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Bruce Wayne

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer:** I don't own either Death Note or Batman. (And Batman fans have my deepest apologies for the existence of this fic D: )
> 
>  **A/N:** For the RLt Fall Event Cross-over prompt. And it's a Death Note Kink meme prompt too! (Which means there will be an eventual L/Light pairing, but don't expect much on that for a while.)
> 
>  **Warning:** Major Character Death
> 
> * * *
> 
> Since MissScorp and Rosawyn are awesome, this fic now has fanfic and fanart! (and be sure to check out their awesome fanfictions if you like X-Men and Batman fics)
> 
> Nanchaku by Rosawyn: http://gastfyr.deviantart.com/art/Nunchaku-466460234  
> And a bonus "shipping" version here: http://gastfyr.deviantart.com/art/Lightwing-466461061  
> Sushi by Rosawyn: http://archiveofourown.org/works/2179491
> 
> Vigilante Training 101 by MissScorp: http://archiveofourown.org/works/2011929  
> And a fanart collage: http://s31.photobucket.com/user/ScorpMiss/media/imagejpg1_zps35c5eada.jpg.html

.

* * *

" _Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing themselves_." - Leo Tolstoy

.

" _If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change_." - Mahatma Gandhi

* * *

.

.

It was dark in the room, and Light's hands worked furiously, lit only by the soft glow from the computer monitor on his desk.

"Just one more name for today, Ryuk," Light muttered as he yawned and stretched. It was a taxing job: cleansing the world of criminals while evading the World's Greatest Detective, and keeping up the façade of being the perfect son, brother, and future college student all at the same time. Light gently massaged his cramping hand and wondered if the world would ever appreciate all that he had sacrificed. It would be nice if people would sing his praises one day, but for now, altruism was its own reward.

Suddenly there was a pounding on his door. "Light! Are you in there?" The door handle jiggled. "Hey, why's the door locked?"

Light closed the notebook, flicked off his monitor and crossed the room to unlock and open the door a crack. "Sayu, what is it?" Normally Light had more patience for his sister's antics, but lately he'd been rather preoccupied with outsmarting L.

"You promised to take me to Spaceland today, and it's already – hey, why's it so dark in your room?"

Crap. He had forgotten about Spaceland. "Just give me fifteen more minutes to get ready, Sayu."

"Okay, but you better hurry or I'll tell mom about your secret porn stash."

Light felt his eye twitch. At least she hadn't stumbled across the Death Note. "Sayu, you shouldn't go through my stuff-"

"Most of it was boring anyway!" Sayu laughed as she ran down the hall. "Don't forget, fifteen minutes!" Then she stomped excitedly down the stairs.

Light locked the door and moved to clean up his desk, then paused. He hated leaving work unfinished. "Just one more name," he mumbled.

He switched the channel to the international news station. In the United States, a man recently accused of murder had just bailed himself out. A beautiful young woman had been found brutally strangled in his hotel room, and the bond had been set at 20 million dollars. He was obviously guilty. Light frowned, and did a quick Google search of the name. Not only was the man filthy rich, but he was an obnoxious playboy who never did anything useful or productive. He seemed like the kind of guy who would be able to buy his way out of a prison sentence too. Light raised his hand to write the name.

"And so all that money goes to his relatives, who are probably just as lazy as he is." Light never had any ambitions of profiting from the Death Note - but what if he could? Didn't Kira deserve a reward for being so selfless in improving the world? And it wasn't like he'd use all the money for himself either. He'd put it to good use. Surely.

"Heh, heh, what are you planning, Light?" Ryuk asked. "You know if you write your own name in the Death Note, you'll die too."

Light shot an annoyed glance at the Shinigami. "Obviously I've already thought of that, Ryuk." He leaned forward and stared at the man on the screen. "Hmm, do you think he'd make out a blank will and leave it in a safe deposit box, Ryuk?"

"Oh, I've never tried anything like that."

"He's really rich, maybe I could control him into forging information about a long-lost relative. Hmm." Light sat there in contemplation. "Or I could have him mail all his relevant personal information to a post office box, and then have the contents of the post office box sent here, and then I could figure it out from there." Light wasn't a genius for nothing, and he was sure he could figure out a way to profit with only minimal information. "Of course I'd have to kill him in a non-suspicious way, maybe a drug overdose."

Light raised his pen, only to be interrupted again, by pounding on the door. "Right, Spaceland," he muttered to himself as he carefully slipped the Death Note into his desk drawer. Dangerous criminals would have to wait to get their well-deserved punishment until after Sayu had enough of roller coasters.

.

.

Light patiently waited while Sayu ran from ride to ride. He tried to explain centripetal force, but Sayu just laughed.

"You're such a nerd, this is supposed to be fun, not a math problem."

"Physics and math are fun," Light retorted.

Sayu just rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically, and then decided that it was time for cotton candy and games.

Suddenly Light had an epiphany while watching Sayu play yet another game. He would control the rich criminal he hadn't yet killed into choosing a successor, who would be chosen to work at his corporation, and perhaps one day take over. (With the relevant information mailed to a post office box, that Light had already opened, in case he ever needed one.). But he wouldn't use his own name; Light would use the name of a deceased man associated with the criminal in the past, and then forge enough documents to make himself look like the bright relative who had been "chosen" by both men. Light was sure with that much information, he'd be able to manipulate everyone else into giving him what he wanted - namely, enough power and money to quickly take his Kira scheme to the next level (for the good of the world, of course).

.

.

Only after carefully planning out the intricate details of the man's death did Light write his name and time of death in the Death Note. Then he relaxed back into his chair with a contented sigh. Yes, the world would be a much better place without useless playboys and murder suspects like _Bruce Wayne._


	2. ...Batman?

Light was locked in his room, starting on another round of eliminating criminals when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" Sayu shouted and ran down the stairs.

Light winced as her heavy footfalls hit the stairs like a herd of elephants. Thump! Thump! Thump! He tried to concentrate on writing names again.

"Light! Did you order something? Do you want me to open it for you? If you don't come down here now, I'll assume you mean yes!"

A package? That could only mean one thing. Well, there were several possibilities. Maybe L had taken to sending him messages through the post office. Though most likely Bruce Wayne's financial information had been forwarded to him. Light pushed himself away from his desk and ran down the stairs before Sayu could open the package as threatened.

Sayu was shaking the plain brown medium-sized package and holding it up to her ear. "What's inside? I think I can hear something clanking around in there."

Light winced. As much as he liked his younger sister, she could be intensely aggravating at times. "Thank you for answering the door, Sayu," he said as politely as he could manage. "Now can you give me my package?"

"Mom! Light ordered a package online and he won't let me see what's inside!"

"Sayu, leave your brother alone," Sachiko yelled from the kitchen.

"Why do you always take his side?" She shook the box again. "What is it, porn?"

Light reached out and grabbed the package from her hands. "Of course not, Sayu, it's paperwork for college. You'd probably find it incredibly boring."

"Then why won't you open it right now and let us see?"

The brief mention of college caught Sachiko's attention. "You got a package from school, Light? Does it have anything to do with your perfect entrance exam scores?"

Light felt a tension headache coming on. "I don't know what it is yet, and I'd rather not say anything until I look at it."

Sayu pouted. "You're such a spoilsport."

"Okay, Light. But let us know soon, if it's good news. Sayu, why don't you help me prepare dinner?"

"But mom~" And Sayu pouted the pout of the younger sibling who never got to do the fun exciting stuff like her older brother.

Light swiftly retreated back to his room and locked the door. "It worked," he whispered. After all this time of wondering, he had not only eliminated a sleazy good-for-nothing, but set himself up to financially profit as well. Maybe he could level the financial playing field between Kira and L. That would be a move the reclusive detective would never expect.

"Well, let's see what kind of man you were, Bruce Wayne," Light said to himself as he cut the packing tape, and pulled the box open.

There was a manila envelope on top, with lists of Bruce Wayne's accounts and properties inside. Underneath was a key with a bat-shaped card attached. Light frowned and dug through the box. There was another bat-shaped key, and a letter explaining how to take over Bruce Wayne's duties with a giant batman logo on the letterhead.

Light felt the blood drain out of his face as realization dawned on him.

"Ryuk, did I…was Bruce Wayne-"

Ryuk laughed. "I guess you weren't expecting Bruce Wayne to have such an interesting nighttime hobby, huh Light?"

Light turned the bat-shaped key around in his hand while sorted through the photos and codes in the rest of the package. Batman had always been one of his heroes. The caped crusader and the way he made the criminals cower in fear had always inspired him as a young kid. Batman stood for justice, he was fearless, and took down the bad guys other were afraid to touch. Batman was one of the good guys. Kira only killed bad people. And yet-

"Ryuk…I killed Batman."

-x-

* * *

Light spent the rest of the afternoon mulling over his new discovery. Obviously he couldn't just use Bruce Wayne's money to fight L, no, his plans had changed.

If anything, this mistake exposed one of Kira's weaknesses. "Ryuk, I'm too dependent on the media for Kira's judgments. I barely know anything about the people I kill."

"What? That never bothered you before."

"What if I'm accidentally killing good people too? I need to find a way to make up for killing Batman, and get more reliable information on criminals before Kira judges them."

The world needed Batman. The world still needed Kira, but maybe a slightly different version of Kira. Light had all Bruce Wayne's information, and could easily take over as "Batman" in order to prevent criminals from getting out of hand. But would impersonating Batman really make up for killing him? Light finally decided that at least taking action was better than doing nothing.

"Ryuk, do you want to make a trip to Gotham City?"

Ryuk twisted himself into a pretzel on the ceiling. "Oh, that sounds like fun, do I get to ride in the Batmobile?"

"Hnn, we'll see about that."

Now he just had to come up with a convincing and completely unsuspicious excuse for leaving the country. Light looked up the location of Gotham City. Yes, there was a way it could work. Light busied himself setting up the necessary paperwork.

* * *

-x-

Light decided to make the announcement to his family that night at dinner.

"Mom, Dad, Sayu, I won't be going to Todai University next month."

They all gasped.

"But Light, your exam scores were perfect! What happened to change your mind?"

His father was half-way out of his chair, leaning over the table in an instant. "Son! You can't be serious! What are you doing?"

Sayu frowned. "Hey, does this have anything to do with the package you got today?"

Light smirked and chuckled. "Sayu's right. I won't be going to Todai, because I received a full scholarship to attend Princeton in the United States. I didn't want to mention it before, until I was absolutely sure I was accepted into the program."

His parents both stared at him open-mouthed for a moment of silence.

Finally his mother recovered from the shock. "Full scholarship? That's wonderful, Light." She paused to mull over the news. "But you'll be so far away from home."

His father sighed and sat back down in his chair. "Are you sure this is what you want to do? Todai has a very good criminal justice program."

"I've thought about that," Light said. "But this is just too good of an opportunity to pass up."

"I won't be starting until the fall, because the school year starts at a different time in the U.S., but the organization providing the scholarship wants me to move to New Jersey in the next few weeks, so I can have time to learn the area and perfect my English before classes start."

"Can I visit you? Huh? Hey, maybe you can take me with you."

"You'll have to study harder in English if you want to visit, Sayu."

"Hey, no fair!"

* * *

-x-

Light set up a few weeks worth of judgments and booked a plane ticket for Gotham City. The sooner he could start as Batman, the better.


	3. Nightwing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **A/N:** Thanks to MissScorp for some helpful Bat-Advice on this chapter!

It was cold and the rain came down in sheets. Fitting for a day like today. They had arranged a small private ceremony, nothing lavish, as that might attract attention from the media. _Like all the other times before_ , Dick Grayson thought, _we don't want criminals to think he's dead._

The members of the team came slowly, quietly to pay their respects at the freshly re-dug grave.

"I swear, if he comes back this time, I'm gonna strangle him," Diana said, though her eyes were suspiciously red-rimmed.

"At least we don't have to buy another plot and headstone each time," Dick quipped. "That'd really add up."

Diana coughed behind her hand. "Yeah, if we went all out each time he died, Bruce probably would've spent his entire fortune on funerals by now."

They stood there awkwardly for a few minutes, then she patted his shoulder and left. As much as he appreciated the company, Dick needed to be alone right now, and it seemed the others understood. He leaned forward and placed one hand on the cold gray headstone.

"Did you really die this time, Bruce?"

Bruce Wayne was everything to him: his mentor, his hero, the avenger of his parents' deaths. Dick clenched his hands and felt bile rising in his throat at the thought that he might never see the man again, that this time Batman might really be dead.

And if he was…then Nightwing would take over, lead the team, and hold the others together. Not because he was good at it, no, he'd only do it for Bruce.

And yet, some of the events surrounding Batman's death were suspicious. And they still hadn't found out who was responsible for Talia's gruesome death back in February. Though Nightwing had initially supposed she had killed herself in order to frame Bruce for murder, perhaps there was more going on than met the eye.

The way Bruce had died was highly suspicious as well. Bruce wasn't one to overindulge on illegal drugs, not even to keep up his playboy image. Unless there was something going on that he hadn't shared with Dick. Nightwing frowned. _What have you been up to, Bruce?_

And then there was the way that Batman had suddenly decided he needed another protégé, and had left his entire fortune to a random kid from Japan. It seemed highly suspicious that Batman would chose a successor and then die a week later. Dick sighed and silently reprimanded himself. And maybe he'd also find it suspicious that Batman had died during the Ides of March. It would be beyond hypocritical of him to question Bruce's decision to take on another trainee, considering all the man had done for him.

Nightwing let out a shaky breath and straightened up in front of the grave. He could never repay all that Bruce Wayne had done for him. The only way he could ever come close was by carrying out all Bruce's wishes; taking care of and supporting the others in the same way Bruce would have, if he had been here.

Nightwing would continue Batman's legacy…or die trying.

x

* * *

L hunched over the coffee table and tapped at the keys on his computer while eating a sugar glazed donut.

"Mr. Yagami, will you be attending your son's entrance ceremony at Toudou Univerity?" L asked around a mouthful of donut crumbs. "I only ask since I am curious. I plan on revealing myself to him as L next week."

Souchiro flinched. "No, Light won't be attending Toudou. He received a scholarship to Princeton, and left last night."

L spewed out a mouthful of crumbs and spilled his coffee in surprise. "WHAT!?"

-x-

* * *

Light settled into one of the Lay-Z-Boy chairs in the Batcave and continued hacking into Batman's secret files on the Batcomputer.

Ryuk munched on a bowl of apple chips and played Mario Cart. "Hey, this is kind of fun, Light."

Light scowled. "Quiet, Ryuk, I need to concentrate."

Ryuk chuckled. "Hey, they must have a pretty good computer system if you're having trouble hacking it."

Light spared Ryuk another glare, then went back to his goal of obtaining Batman's personal case files.

"You know, Ryuk, this is a very powerful computer," Light said as he opened the folder containing the first of Batman's case files. Maybe next time he could try hacking into L's files…

"Oh, can I use it to play Mario Cart? I bet the graphics would load even faster on yours."

Light felt a vein popping out of his forehead, and wondered if he should have added baby-sitting a whiny Shinigami to the list of skills on his college application. "No, Ryuk, this computer is not for playing games."

"You're always so serious," Ryuk grumbled.

Light ignored the Shinigami and clicked open another file. "Batman has always been my hero," Light said, while readying a piece of the Death Note on the desk. "There's only one thing that Batman ever did wrong. He went too easy on the criminals."

"What do you mean?" Ryuk asked while picking up another handful of apple chips.

"Take any of his major nemeses for example. The Joker, The Penguin, The Riddler. He always captures them alive, and then they escape, and blow things up and kill innocent civilians just to piss Batman off." Light twirled the pen in his fingers. "Of course, Superman does the same with Lex Luthor. You'd think he enjoys outsmarting him or something."

Ryuk laughed. "Isn't that kind of like you and L?"

Light whirled around in his chair to glare at Ryuk. "No, Ryuk, the situations are nothing alike. I plan on killing L as soon as I find out who he is." Light paused to open another file on the computer. "But only if he's a threat to me. And maybe now he won't be."

"Hyuk. I wonder what he's gonna do when he finds out you left the country."

Light gave the Shinigami another brief glare. "Ryuk, there is nothing even remotely suspicious about a genius receiving a scholarship to study in another country. But let's see. I can kill off a few of Batman's villains and save innocents."

"Hey, but I thought you were going to play Batman. Doesn't that mean you're gonna dress up in the suit and cape and ride around in the Batmobile? I could ride in the Batmobile with you."

"No, Ryuk."

"I want to ride in the Batmobile," Ryuk whined.

"Physical confrontations are for the uneducated. I can be a much more effective Batman from this computer screen."

Ryuk scratched his head. "But I thought you got all emo and weren't going to play Kira anymore after your mess-up with Bruce Wayne."

"That's not what I meant, Ryuk," Light said with an impatient sigh. "I made a mistake as Kira before, since I was relying on an imperfect source of information. But there are still dangerous criminals out there who deserve to die. With Batman's files, I can make sure I only target the worst offenders."

"Won't L get suspicious if all Batman's enemies start dying of heart attacks?"

"Obviously I am not going to make them die of heart attacks. They will die in freak accidents spaced out over a few months."

"Who are you gonna kill first, Light? The Joker?"

"Sure, why not? He's probably killed thousands of people." Light skimmed though a few files on the computer before finding the information he was looking for. "His real name is unknown? Are you kidding me?"

Ryuk laughed. "Are you sure you don't want to make the eye trade?"

"No, Ryuk, I'll just kill off a different criminal instead." Light impatiently searched through the files until he found a villain with a real name. Then he started writing in the Death Note:

_Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot, Writes the names of all of his criminal accomplices on a sheet of paper and leaves it in his safe deposit box. Gets stung by venomous insects on the way home from the post office and ends up in a hospital. While in hospital, comes down with a case of flesh eating bacteria and amoebic dysentery. Leaves the hospital abruptly five days later, under the delusion that an unnamed group of people are after him. Takes refuge in an abandoned building. Spends the next twenty four hours with horrendous stomach cramps, vomiting, and diarrhea. Then an unstable wall collapses on him. Dies three days later, of dehydration._

"See? No more Penguin and his exploding umbrellas."

"Hey, Light, wasn't there a story about how the Penguin reformed and was serving as an informant for Batman?"

Light's eye twitched. "Well, he was evil. He was probably just pretending to reform."

-x-

* * *

L gnawed on his thumb and stared at the computer screen. Light Yagami was indeed enrolled as a student at Princeton for the upcoming semester. He must have planned this for a while, but why? Nothing in Kira's profile indicated that he would leave the country. That would seem too much like fleeing. L took a sip of his sugar sludge mixed with tea. No, either Kira had an as yet unknown ulterior motive for leaving, or Light Yagami was not Kira. L wasn't pleased with either scenario.

-x-

* * *

Light reclined in his seat and rested his feet on the table. "See, Ryuk, there's not much to this superhero business. I can just use Batman's technology to track criminals and report minor crimes to the police, and then Kira can eliminate the really bad ones. I'll have Gotham cleaned up in no time."

The door to the BatCave scraped open and Light jumped and hid the Death Note in a secure batdrawer (that he had rigged with a batcombination lock hours earlier). "Ryuk, put the video game controller down," he hissed.

"Alfred said that Batman's replacement would be here-" Nightwing paused to take in the monitors, paused video game, apple chip mess, and skinny college student. "Who the heck are you?"

Light stood up and introduced himself. "Light Yagami, I received Mr. Wayne's letter two weeks ago."

Dick glanced over at the computer screen. "How did you get into those files! Those were supposed to remain encrypted until after you completed your training."

"I'm the top student in Japan, and hacking into your system didn't take long. Wait, you said training?"

"Yes. Obviously after Batman selects a potential replacement, they have to undergo intense training."

Light frowned. He hadn't written that part in the Death Note. Well, no matter. He was quick to adapt his plans to new situation. He quickly covered his frown with a polite smile, a smile that normally allowed him to manipulate just about anyone into becoming his minion. "It would probably be more efficient for me to be Batman from the Batcave. I'm really good with computers and-"

"Sure, you can do that too," Nightwing said as he grabbed Light by the collar of his shirt and dragged him away from the Batcomputer. Apparently the superhero was immune to Light's manipulative charisma. "But you also need to have combat training if you're going to be Batman. We'll just start with some testing to see what level you're at for today." Nightwing dragged Light into the middle of the room. "What kind of weapons experience do you have?"

"I made a bomb in my desk drawer once."

Nightwing face palmed. "What about hand to hand combat?"

Light gave him a blank look.

"Sports?"

"I was the junior tennis team champion for two years in a row, but then my parents told me I should be more serious and concentrate on my studies."

"I…see. Well on the upside I guess you don't have any bad habits to unlearn, huh?" "We'll just start with an easy scenario for the first lesson. Try to attack me."

Light lunged forward to punch-

And Nightwing caught his fist in one gloved hand. “Your center of gravity is too high.” He pushed to illustrate, and Light stumbled backwards. “And your attack was too predictable. Try again.”

Light laughed politely, but inwardly seethed. How dare Nightwing come in here and tell him what to do as if Light wasn’t already Batman? Although Light preferred to use brains over brawn, it was clear he’d have to beat Nightwing in a physical fight to get his own way. At least for now. And no-one ever said it had to be a fair fight.

Light turned and lunged forward, directing a punch towards Nightwing’s ribcage. Nightwing easily deflected the punch and used Light’s own momentum against him to twist him to the ground. Light feigned getting up, then tried to kick Nightwing’s legs out from under him.

Nighwing sighed. “Looks like we’re going to have to work on building up your leg strength. You’re still not leveraging your body properly. And when you punch, you’re drawing your arm back too far, making your attacks predictable and easy to block.” 

Light stood up, and Nightwing demonstrated exactly what he meant with a quick punch to his shoulder. 

“See? If you start closer to the center line of your body, the punch is faster, harder to see, and harder for your opponent to block,” Nightwing explained with an infuriating smile. “Why don’t you try punching again?”

Light rubbed his shoulder and scowled. He hated being told what to do. Especially by a goofy idiot who looked like he belonged right next to Matsuda in a line-up of Well Meaning But Idiotic Crime Fighters. Light turned and threw his whole body into a punch aimed at Nightwing’s stupid face.

Nightwing easily caught his punch again, twisting Light to the ground. “Don’t worry, it might take a while to modify your technique.”

Light stood back up, more shakily this time, and brushed some dust and lint from his clothes.

“Hey, Light, what does ‘mop the floor’ mean?” Ryuk asked. “’Cause I heard a human use that term once, and it looks like that’s what’s happening to you now.”

Light took another Nightwing-induced fall and risked a glare at the Shinigami. He was on the losing end of a fight, and had to put up with Ryuk as his own personal commentator. Not exactly how he pictured “playing Batman” would go.

At the end of the day Light slowly crawled into bed. “Ryuk, this Batman stuff is going to be harder than I thought.”


	4. Training

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **A/N:** Thanks to MissScorp for reading over this chapter.

Light glanced at his watch. Good, he had enough time to hack into Watchtower's computers and give Sayu a quick call before breakfast. It would be evening over there, and having Batman's technology came in handy for making international calls.

She picked up on the third ring. "Hey, Light! What are you up to? We haven't heard from you in two weeks!"

"I'm sorry, Sayu, I've been busy," Light said as he successfully navigated past Watchtower's first line of defense.

"So what's America like? Does everyone there look like they do in the movies?"

"Of course not, Sayu."

"I saw this TV program last week, well, actually my friend and I were searching online for information on America, since I told her that you're studying there, and we found this one show where everyone was really fat since there's so much food there. Is it really like that?"

Light just grunted in response.

"Hey, what if you get fat too, since you're living there? Do you have to eat a lot of hamburgers? Do you have to eat bread with every meal instead of rice?"

"Sayu-"

"Do you have a girlfriend yet? Is she fat?" When Sayu didn't get an answer she continued, "Is it true that they have so many guns in America that everyone has to own one and learn how to use them? I heard they even sell guns in the grocery stores. Did you learn to use a gun yet?"

"Yes." Although Nightwing's training was more focused on physical fighting skills, he had claimed it was important for Light to be familiar with a variety of weapons, including guns. "I've practiced shooting a few."

Sayu took in a sharp breath, and Light imagined her eyes must be nearly popping out. "MOM!" she hollered. "Light's learning how to use GUNS in America!"

Light heard his mother in the background: _Sayu?_ _Is that your brother on the phone? Don't fool around young lady, international phone calls are expensive! Give me the phone!_

Then Light talked to his mother about mom stuff: yes, he was eating enough, getting enough sleep, and being appropriately polite to his host family. And yes, he would be careful around any weapons he may or may not come into contact with.

Then he was interrupted by a blinking light on the Batcomputer.

"It's almost breakfast time here. I don't want to offend my host family by being late. I'll call you back later, okay?" Light ended the call with his mother and switched to the channel to communicate with Alfred.

"Mr. Yagami," Alfred said politely, "it will be time for your training session with Mr. Grayson in ten minutes. I would advise you to prepare appropriately, as he has already informed me that you do not need to gain any additional expertise in computer usage."

Light took the hint and covertly ceased his Watchtower hacking attempts. He'd have to try them again sometime when he wasn't distracted. So far Watchtower was proving harder to hack into than Luthor Corp's computer system. "Thank you, Alfred. Will I have time for breakfast first?"

"Of course. I'll bring it up right away, sir."

After two weeks of intense martial arts training, or rather Nightwing's version of marital arts training, Light felt like he the only thing he had learned was How to Get Pummeled by a Superhero. Not that he'd ever admit it. But still, it was frustrating to have to practice an activity that he wasn't instantly good at. As much as Light hated failing at anything, he kind of hoped Nightwing would realize the futility of teaching him how to physically fight, and just leave him to fight criminals from the Batcomputer.

"More weapons training?" Light groaned as Nightwing entered the room holding nunchaku. He wondered if Sayu would appreciate the irony of him learning how to use traditional Japanese weapons while in America.

Nightwing showed Light how to hold the nunchaku and swing it around. It looked easy, but when Light attempted it, he quickly decided that a better name for the nunchaku would be: Another Excuse to Get Bruises on Your Arms. Light swore and accidentally dropped the nunchaku.

"Don't worry, you're learning," Nightwing said. "I just have a lot more experience than you. But it takes time."

Obviously Nightwing's standards were a lot lower than Light's. "I still think I could run the whole operation from the Batcomputer."

"And what would happen if someone broke into the mansion? You have to be able to defend yourself and be prepared for anything if you're going to fight crime."

Ryuk laughed. "It'll be much more entertaining to watch you chase down criminals in person, but you better not expect me to help."

Light ignored Ryuk, and continued training.

-

After several hours with the nunchaku of death, and hand to hand combat training, Nightwing apparently decided that Light had enough torture…that is training, for the day.

"Well, I guess we could take a break from the physical training today so you can get comfortable with some of the Batgear," Nightwing said with an obnoxiously happy smile as Light about collapsed on the floor.

"Oooohhh! Does that mean I get to ride in the Batmobile today?" Ryuk asked hopefully.

The Batsuit was pretty awesome. And thanks to his mastery of physics, Light got the hang of using the Batarangs and grappling gun pretty quick. Nightwing looked impressed. Of course, maybe that was just because he was used to Light's usual progress with fighting.

"Why don't we go for a quick ride around Gotham in the Batmobile?" Nightwing suggested.

It was a good thing Ryuk was invisible and inaudible; otherwise the whole city would have heard him celebrating.

-

They left Wayne Manor just as the sun was beginning to set.

Light stared out the window of the Batmobile as Nightwing drove through the darkening streets of Gotham City. _Sayu would be so jealous_ , he thought. Maybe once he mastered this whole superhero thing, he could arrange for her to visit…

Ryuk bounced around in the backseat and looked out all the windows. "Oh, Light! Ask him if we can try driving it underwater, I heard some cars can drive underwater, and I bet the Batmobile could!"

On second thought, maybe it was enough of an annoyance having Ryuk around.

"How long before I can start being Batman on my own?" Light asked.

"Well, you still need a lot more training before you go after any of the big guys, but I think you could probably take down minor criminals." Nightwing paused as he turned down another street. "It's all about intimidation. Sometimes all you have to do is stand there dramatically, and let your cape flap menacingly in the wind to get the criminals to drop what they're doing and run. You're Batman. No-one messes with Batman."

Yes, fear of retaliation was an important deterrent for criminals. Light imagined that the mere thought of the caped crusader was enough to make pickpockets and other petty thieves consider getting a real job. One that didn't involve getting punched in the face by a Batglove.

Like Batman, Light hoped Kira would someday strike fear into the hearts of all potential evil-doers. Criminals would think twice before stealing or murdering. Then he wouldn't have to kill off so many people with the Death Note. If only they understood, it would make everything so much easier…

Light's thoughts were interrupted as Nightwing answered a call from Alfred:

"I have important news. Watchtower has scheduled a meeting that you are both encouraged to attend. And Arkham asylum called. It seems the Joker has become quite vocal in his requests to have a visit from Batman." Alfred paused. "And I realize you've already been informed of the Penguin's death, however today ten of his men suddenly died of heart attacks."


	5. Crime-Fighting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Disclaimer:** I don't own Batman or Death Note.
> 
> **A/N:** Thanks to MissScorp for beta-reading this chapter!

Light was silent most of the way back to the Batcave.

He frowned. The Penguin's death came as no surprise to him, but the fact that ten of his men had suddenly died of heart attacks was troubling. It was the kind of move Light would make only if he was trying to announce that Kira was here. What could it mean then? Was someone trying to bring L here? Either Ryuk was messing with him, or someone else had a Death Note and just happened to start killing off the Penguin's men. But that was too much of a coincidence. If someone was trying to get L or Kira's attention, did that mean they knew Light was here, and had a connection with Batman? Impossible. Light was sure he'd covered his tracks well enough to fool anyone. He really hoped Ryuk was the one behind the deaths. He glared covertly at the Shinigami. They were going to have a talk about Not Messing with Master Plans once Nightwing was out of earshot.

"It's up to you, if you want to visit the Joker or not." Nightwing's expression didn't change. "Might give you some more motivation for training," he added under his breath.

Light paused and thought for a moment. "I don't think I'm ready for that yet," he lied.

"You're probably right." Nightwing said as he parked the car. "I'll tell Alfred to make sure they increase security at Arkham Asylum." Nightwing closed the doors. "Meet me down here in three hours. I have some equipment I need to work on before it's time for evening training."

.

As soon as he was alone with Ryuk, Light glared at the Shinigami.

"What?"

"You didn't have anything to do with the extremely suspicious deaths of the Penguin's men, did you?"

Ryuk threw his claws up in the air. "Hey, it wasn't me. Ooh, wait, you mean it wasn't you either?"

"Ryuk, I'm not stupid enough to announce to L that Kira moved to Gotham at the same time I did." Although he had deliberately antagonized L in the past, Light currently had enough to deal with trying to become Batman and clean up Gotham. Besides, if L continued to challenge him, he might end up having to kill the detective, and then take over L's duties as well as Batman's and Kira's. Not that Light didn't think that he _couldn't_ play all three at once, but he wasn't sure he wanted to only get three hours of sleep every night.

"Huh? I wonder who killed them." Ryuk scratched his head.

"It's either a coincidence, or someone else is trying to attract L's attention. And it's very inconvenient right now," he added under his breath.

"You should know by now – misfortune always follows a user of the Death Note," Ryuk reminded him.

"Yes, you've told me that before, Ryuk, but I'm using the Death Note for a different reason than anyone else ever used it for. How could eliminating criminals like the Penguin and the Joker bring misfortune?"

"Oh, and hey, Light, isn't ignoring the Joker gonna make him mad?"

"That's what I'm counting on."

"Huh?"

"The Joker is used to dealing with the old Batman, and his rule against killing criminals." Light smirked. "He doesn't know the rules have changed. It should be easy enough to come up with a plan to get rid of him. And if I ignore him long enough, he'll come right to me."

Ryuk laughed. "Wow, you sure are confident, Light."

.

* * *

L crouched in his hotel chair and sipped his morning sugar sludge with coffee as Watari set up the equipment for a conference call with the ICPO. It had been an extremely frustrating three weeks for the detective. Kira's kill rate had slowly dropped off, then at one point it had resurged, and he almost thought there might be two Kiras, but it had dropped again just as quickly, and trickled off to nearly nothing. _Almost as if the second Kira had been watching the news, and stopped killing when the first Kira disappeared._

Of course the strange pattern change in Kira's killings had coincided with his prime suspect's relocation to another country, which was extremely suspicious. But why everything had changed was another matter entirely. It just didn't make sense. He could tell the NPA members were frustrated as well, even though Matsuda had optimistically suggested that maybe the investigation had scared Kira away. _No, that didn't fit with his profile at all; Kira would never run or hide. He has to be up to something._

But even if the case stagnated, L could take on other cases while waiting for Kira to resurface. Fanatical self-righteous serial killers rarely stopped for long. L scanned through various news articles before his talk. He paused, and his eyes widened as he saw the headline in Gotham: **Penguin Dies Gruesome Death, and 10 Associates Die of Cardiac Arrest.**

L nearly dropped his coffee mug in shock. Then he flashed a predatory smile.

"Did you miss me that much, _Kira_?"

So much for the case stagnating. He looked up the location of the deaths. Perhaps a conference call with the Justice League was in order later today.

* * *

.

.

When Light came back down to the Batcave, Nightwing was already all suited up and waiting.

"Change of plans," Nightwing said and threw a Batsuit at him. "We got a call about an armed robbery attempt three blocks away. The police are stretched kind of thin tonight, so I figured it'd be good practice for you to help them out."

"Ooh, we get to ride in the Batmobile again?" Ryuk chirped happily and zoomed around bouncing off the ceiling.

"Are we taking the Batmobile?" Light asked.

"No," Nightwing said, and Light could have sworn he smiled. "Since this criminal is located so close, I thought it'd be a nice opportunity for a lesson in stealth and surprising a criminal by jumping off buildings."

Light grumbled under his breath as he ran out of the cave after Nightwing and watched as the superhero easily leaped over the Mansion gate. He was starting to suspect the man had a sadistic side, either that, or maybe he was worried about the Joker.

"Hey, Light?" Ryuk asked as Light slowly climbed the brick wall surrounding Wayne Manor. "How come it's taking you so much longer than Nightwing?"

"Shut up, Ryuk," Light said as he tumbled over the wall and fell on the other side.

Fifteen minutes later he caught up with Nightwing, who was checking his Batcommunicator. "Robin is keeping a lookout on top of the buildings. The criminal is headed this way." He motioned for Light to follow, then steeped into an alley and melted into the shadows. "The element of surprise is important part of crime-fighting," Nightwing explained.

Light followed him into the dark alley. It was littered with trash and smelled sour. He wrinkled his nose. Crime-fighting wasn't always as glamorous as he had hoped.

"I might as well teach you about dramatic entrances while we're here." Nightwing stood by the dumpster. "Jumping from a high height is a good way to surprise the bad guys."

To Light, it sounded like a good way to get a broken leg. "You want me to jump…off of a dumpster?" he asked incredulously.

"It's either that or the building."

Light grumbled about _sadistic superheroes who never rest_ , carefully climbed onto the dumpster, and balanced on the edge.

They were rewarded a few seconds later as the criminal ran past, seemed to notice movement on top of a nearby building, then darted into the alley.

Light jumped off the dumpster, the Batcape billowing out dramatically behind him. The criminal paused, too frightened to move, and Light tackled him to the ground.

Nightwing stepped forward and kicked the gun out of the criminal's hand. "Always keep an eye on the criminal's weapons. The suit is bulletproof, but that doesn't mean it won't hurt getting shot." Nightwing grinned. "We can practice later if you don't believe me."

Light grunted as he struggled to pull the man's hands behind him. While he had helped his father with cases before, he had mostly worked behind the scenes. Still, he was slightly familiar with how the arrests were made. Finally, he was able to wrestle on a pair of Batcuffs and prop the still struggling criminal up against the wall. Fear flashed across the man's face as he realized he was caught.

"Please, I was just trying to feed my family," the man pleaded. "You don't understand what it's like-"

"No, but I know what it's like to have my family threatened by an armed thug. I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to explain your case to a judge," Nightwing retorted. "Now wait here while I call a squad car."

Light leaned up against the building. In a way, this reminded him of the first time he had used the Death Note. Giving criminals what they deserved was fine in theory, but up close, it was often…unsettling. It was easier to block everything out, and not think of them as human. But seeing the fear on this man's face brought everything back, and he thought of all the names he had written without a second thought. Light's stomach churned, and he heaved up his dinner.


	6. L

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: In this universe, Jason Todd is dead, Carrie Kelley is Robin III, and no-one knows about Damian Wayne yet. 
> 
> And this story now has fanart and fanfiction. (See beginning of story notes)

Light finished vomiting the contents of his stomach into the dark trash filled alley.

“Hey, Light, I thought you said you were going to clean up the streets of Gotham, not vomit all over them.” Ryuk laughed. “Is this how you acted when you first started killing people with the Death Note? 

Light clenched his fists and gave the Shinigami a quick glare. He had eventually gotten used to killing with the notebook, after countless sleepless nights and nearly losing five kilos; now he would just have to toughen up and fight crime this new way. The world depended on him after all.

“Oh man, I can’t believe I missed that. It would’ve been hilarious.”

Light scowled and decided that an apple-ban for annoying Shinigamis would be even more hilarious. “I guess you don’t want any more apples, then, Ryuk.”

Ryuk threw his claws up in the air. “What? What did I even do? I can’t even have a little fun? You take things too seriously.”

“I’m human, I have to take things seriously. Unlike you Shinigami, I have to face the consequences of my actions.”

Light glanced back at down the alley. Nightwing had finished handing the criminal off to the police. Everything was as it should be. He wiped off his mouth and walked back towards the Manor as if everything was perfectly fine.

 

-x-

Dick Grayson watched his protégé complete another lap around the Manor, checked his watch and frowned. Although it was true Light had made progress in the past few weeks, he still had a long way to go until he was even at sidekick level. 

“Five more laps!” Nightwing shouted. “And then you can practice punching and kicking until breakfast is ready.”

Light muttered something under his breath in Japanese that probably was best not translated.

Dick couldn’t help but think of Bruce. Bruce would run laps around the manor, break tree limbs with a single kick, and bench-press 1,000 pounds. And that was just his warm-up for the day. Bruce worked so hard, always improving his stamina and perfecting his techniques. It had been an honor to train under him, even though Bruce was a tough trainer, and expected no less than 100% effort every day Dick had trained with him. He had grown tired of every batglare, batsigh, and ‘please-take-this-training-seriously-Richard-it’s worth-more than-most-people-make-in-their-lifetimes’ that had come from his mentor. Dick might not have entirely appreciated Bruce’s methods at the time, but he couldn’t argue with the reasoning behind them. Slacking off during training was one thing; losing focus while fighting a supervillian could cost him his life, and almost had a number of times. Nightwing rolled his eyes as he spotting Light leaning over to catch his breath by the side of the manor. “Hey, no resting until it’s break time!” he shouted. _I just hope he realizes how important this is before it’s too late,_ he thought. The last thing anyone wanted was another bat protégé ending up like Jason. . 

A short while later, Carrie joined him on the back deck holding a cup of coffee. “Mind explaining what’s going on since I’ve been gone?”

“Not much. Bruce is dead - as far as we can tell, but a few weeks before he died he contacted Yoru-sensei in Japan to see if he could recommend another Bat-protégé.” Nightwing frowned as Light tripped over a shrub. “I’m starting to wonder if there was a mistake or miscommunication somewhere.”

“That bad?”

“He’s a genius, so maybe Bruce was originally going to train him as a tech expert. Either way, he was set up to inherit everything and take over as Batman after Bruce’s death.”

“You think Bruce is still alive and is testing you?”

Nightwing frowned. “If he is, he’s going to have a lot of explaining to do when he shows up.”

-x-

Light rubbed his elbows and scowled, deciding that Nightwing’s lesson on pressure points had been a little too “hands-on”.

Nightwing smiled obnoxiously and looked cheerfully stupid enough to remind Light of Matsuda. “Even if it’s hard to notice any improvements, you’ve made a lot of progress in the past few weeks.”

Light rolled his eyes. As if he even cared about physical endurance training. All he really needed to fight criminals was the Death Note, and a computer to hack police records.

“I know it’s probably been a lot for you to handle, moving to a new country, all the training…” Nightwing trailed off. “Crime fighting can be hard to get used to at first. If you want to talk about last night-”

“I caught a criminal as Batman; why would I have a problem with that?” Light interrupted with a fake smile.

“When I was training, Bru-, I mean, Batman used to tell me that it’s okay to make mistakes. Sometimes you learn more from failure than success.”

“Other people might learn from their mistakes, but since I’m the top student in Japan, I don’t have to. I’ve always learned from my victories.”

“And I thought I had issues,” Nightwing muttered under his breath.

Ryuk doubled over on the floor laughing. Light gave him a quick glare, wondering what on Earth the Shinigami found so amusing.

-x-

Carrie Kelley was loud and her voice filled the room when she wasn’t stuffing food into her mouth. She had loudly decided, after loudly joining them during breakfast that Light needed to do more than just Batman training. Dick was doing it all wrong, since Light needed to learn more about social customs in Gotham if he was going to follow in Bruce Wayne’s footsteps. 

Light decided that he instantly disliked her, but feigned politeness in case she proved to be easier to manipulate than Nightwing.

“Hey, so you’re the new Batman, huh? Nightwing told me all about you. How do you like America? Has Dick shown you the best places to get pizza in Gotham yet? You’re going to Harvard right?”

“Princeton,” Light corrected.

“Have you gone on a campus tour yet? Have you visited any other cities? Have you seen the Big Apple? Everyone who visits America always wants to see New York.”

“Well, we haven’t had much time for sight-seeing with all the training.”

Carrie stomped her foot and glared. “Dick Grayson! I can’t believe you! You’re worse than Bruce! Over-training won’t do any good!”

“Well, I thought with Bruce being-”

“Well now that I’m back things will be different,” Carrie interrupted. “And the first thing we’re going to do differently is more sightseeing! Doesn’t that sound like fun?” Carrie leaned over the table and it was obvious “no” would not be considered an acceptable answer.

 _Maybe Carrie could entertain Sayu if she ever visited_ , Light decided.

“Excuse me.” Dick turned to answer his cell phone.

“Big apple?” Ryuk asked. “Light there’s a big apple nearby and you never brought me there?”

Light rubbed his forehead and prepared for a Shinigami headache.

“I wanna go see the big apple,” Ryuk whined. “Hey, Light, when are we going to the big apple?”

“Later, Ryuk,” Light mouthed under his breath.

“Well, the sight-seeing will have to wait,” Nightwing informed them as he hung up his phone. “The Justice League just called. We have a meeting with L in four hours.”

-x-

On the way to the meeting, Carrie insisted that they stop at the Waffle House so that Light could start sampling authentic American cuisine. Light didn’t like it very much, but he figured that Sayu probably would have enjoyed the sickly sweet food, giant portions, and Carrie’s loud obnoxious voice. Speaking of Sayu…Light felt a pang of guilt when he realized he hadn’t called or texted his sister in a few days. He took a quick selfie, titled it _having fun in America_ , and sent it to Sayu’s cell phone.

Thirty seconds later his phone buzzed. _No fair! When are you going to let me visit? Who’s that girl, is she your girlfriend? Did you tell mom yet? Why is that guy behind you making weird faces?_

Light glanced surreptitiously at the table behind him, and sure enough, there was a man with messy black hair and bulging eyes who was staring at Light while eating through a mountain of pancakes drenched in syrup, whipped cream, and strawberries. He sat like a frog too. _Weirdos are everywhere_ , Light muttered to himself.

-x-

 

“Don’t worry about the meeting,” Dick said as they rode in the elevator up to the Hall of Justice. “Most of the Justice League already knows you’re Bruce’s replacement. However, we don’t want anyone outside the Justice League to know about there being a new Batman until you’ve completed your training, so just keep a low profile when the League has its meeting with L.”

Light nodded.

 

Ryuk was beside himself, flying from window to window and peering eagerly out. “Hey, Light, did you know this thing’s in space? I didn’t know humans had technology this advanced yet. This is just like those cartoons you let me watch on TV.” Ryuk paused and gazed around some more. “Hey, Light, do you think they have any big apples up here?””

-x-

The superheroes all assembled and sat down at the table. An old man dressed in a trenchcoat set up a laptop at the head of the table, and flicked the screen on the reveal a Gothic letter L. The superheros all had secret identities. L had a computer screen and trench-coated proxy.

 

Superman stood up. “Now that we’re all here, we need to talk about Lex Luthor.”

L made an exasperated sighing noise. “There will be time for that later. After your meeting with me.”

“No. I received an anonymous tip from someone who had hacked Luthor Corp’s financial records.” Superman waved a piece of paper around. “For the past five months he’s been “donating” large amounts of money to Dr. Pamela Isley and Dr. Kimiko Kujo. I’m sure he’s up to something.”

L paused. “Dr. Kujo? Perhaps it would be worth checking out briefly.”

Barry Allen jumped up out of his seat and saluted. “Sure thing! I’ll be back --- in a flash!” Then he zipped out of the room.

“Superman, who was your anonymous source?” L asked.

“I…uh…” Superman looked sheepish. “We weren’t able to trace them. Whoever it was, they were really good.” Then he looked up with conviction. “But they had to have been good to hack into Luthor’s systems.”

“Hmmm…” L didn’t sound impressed.

Light smirked to himself behind his hand. He didn’t even need a Death Note to bring Lex Luthor to justice. All he needed was a computer. And having one of the most powerful computers in the world definitely helped.

Barry Allen zipped back into the room. “As far as I can tell, Dr. Isley and Dr. Kujo are working with the FARC to stop deforestation and illegal logging in the Darién.”

“Hmm, that sounds harmless enough I suppose,” L concluded.

“But Luthor always has an ulterior motive,” Superman insisted.

Wonder Woman gave him a sympathetic glance. “Don’t worry. We’ll all keep an eye on him.”

L cleared his throat. “Now that we’ve gotten that taken care of, there was another matter I wanted to address. Namely Kira. I’ve been tracking him for some time in Japan, but now I have reason to believe that he has moved to the Eastern coast of the United States. Possibly Gotham or Metropolis.”

“What makes you think that?” Wonder Woman asked.

“Two weeks ago, the Penguin died under suspicious circumstances. Then three days ago, ten of his associates suddenly died of cardiac arrest. We did standard blood tests, and everything came back clean.” 

Superman stood up. “So it’s Kira, then?”

“Looks that way. Which brings me back to my original point.”

“I wonder if it’s a copycat criminal,” Light mused.

Nightwing facepalmed and muttered, “So much for keeping a low profile,” under his breath.

L was silent for a few seconds. “I didn’t realize Batman was such an expert on my cases.” L’s sarcasm was evident even with the voice modulator. “Would you care to explain how you came to the “copycat” conclusion?”

“I’ve followed the Kira case on the news. Kira can kill criminals at hundreds of different locations at the same time. Why would he all of a sudden decide to only kill ten men that are in the same location?”

 

“We can run more thorough tests in the Batcave,” Nightwing offered. “With Batman’s technology we can see if you missed anything.

Light sat back in his seat with a pleased look on his face. “It should be interesting to see what we find.” He glanced smugly back at the screen. "Don't you agree, L?"

“Thank you for volunteering to work on the case with me. I look forward to working with you again… _Batman_.”


	7. The Big Apple

.

.

_You can only fight the way you practice._ – Miyamoto Musashi

.

.

Light scowled and ate his breakfast in Wayne Manor, as the World's Most Annoying Shinigami swung from the light fixture above his head, and Carrie continued her soliloquy on how much fun they were going to have in New York.

"You'll love it," Carrie said as she buttered her toast. "All my friends love going there. You haven't seen America until you've been to the Big Apple."

Ryuk was drooling. "Apples! Big apples everywhere! Light, this is going to be the best day of my life!" Ryuk shouted from his perch.

"And we need to go school shopping for you," Carrie continued.

Light perked up at the mention of shopping. Although he had brought along his collection of fitted suits, khakis and dress shirts, his wardrobe could always use an update. "That sounds like fun," he said cautiously. He still wasn't sure he liked the idea of spending an entire day doing frivolous things when there were super-criminals to fight and obnoxious detectives to collaborate with and outsmart. But on the other hand, making a good first impression was always important.

"It's settled then. Great. I'll go pack some things in the car and we can go." Carrie stood up and threw her dishes into the sink.

A glob of Shinigami drool dripped onto the table. Light grimaced and wiped it up with his napkin. It was going to be a long day.

Nightwing appeared in the doorway with a hurt disappointed look on his face. "I thought we were going to train today," he said.

"Nope. We're going to New York!" Carrie said cheerfully. "You can come with us, or stay here if you like, Dick."

"But today we were going to do one-legged squats and one-legged jumping around the manor. Followed by three hours of kicking, and two hours of stretching. " Nightwing served himself an enormous bowl of oatmeal and started frying five eggs and three sausage patties on the stove. "Light needs to work on his leg strength; he can barely even hold a squat for five minutes."

Suddenly, New York sounded like perfection.

Carrie wrinkled her nose and picked up her purse. "We'll do plenty of walking in New York, that should count for a leg strength workout."

"Carrie, I'm serious-"

"You work too hard," Carrie interrupted. "Sometimes a break does more good than over-training constantly."

"I guess so," Nightwing said glumly and sat down to eat his breakfast.

Light gulped down the rest of his breakfast, and followed Carrie out the door before Nightwing could change his mind.

.

-x-

.

_Power and money aren't entirely equivalent,_ Lex Luthor thought as he drove his Lexus up the drive to Arkham Asylum, though they do tend to be positively correlated. Case in point: his current mission. He emerged from the car and passed the guard with merely a nod. But it wasn't just the money, though that went a long way in buying his leather boots and fitted suit, and money came into play yet again as he covertly shoved a wad of bills into the guard's hands. No, there was something else at work here that went beyond his exorbitant finances. Respectability. Power. He could see the recognition and respect glint in the guard's eye as he passed. It didn't matter that he'd been sent to prison by Superman countless times. They always let him out. Always welcomed him back into the community. Why? He most likely employed more people than all the superheroes put together.

He'd brought them all far more stability than Superman and his band of boy scouts could ever hope to achieve. That was the problem with naïve idealists. Humans were inherently corrupt and greedy and craved stability over improvement.

Necessity did indeed make strange bedfellows. As pin-headed as both Poison Ivy and Dr. Kujo could be, he needed them both for their scientific expertise. And now he needed the Joker to get Batman out of his hair. Figuratively speaking.

It made his stomach churn to look at the Joker, with his face all twisted up and laughing in that grotesque way of his. It made his grimace to think of all the waste and mayhem and property damage the lunatic would cause. But he needed a distraction for a little while, and who better to keep Batman busy than the Joker?

Lex kept the gloves tightly on his hands as he passed a metal file and a pile of bills through the bars. He'd change into a new pair and have theses ones incinerated after visiting the clown, just to be safe.

The Joker giggled, licked each bill in the stack, then looked up at him curiously, twisting his head around.

"Batman has been acting…unusual lately," Lex said. "Causing more trouble than normal in my computer systems. I need you to look into it."

The Joker grabbed the bars with both hand and let out a high-pitched laugh. There was a gleam of something so evil and malevolent in his eyes, it almost made Lex step back. "Oh, you don't have to _pay_ me to do that."

.

-x-

.

A few hundred miles away, the World's Most Disappointed Shinigami was getting a tour of New York.

Much to Carrie's delight, and Ryuk's dismay, Light spent most of the time shopping. There were so many types of designer khakis and fitted shirts to choose from. They moved from store to store, eventually ending up in a dressing room where Light could try on thirty different pairs of khakis to his heart's content.

He pulled on the fifth pair and looked at himself critically in the mirror. "Ryuk, do you think these are better or worse than pairs two and three?"

"How should I know?" Ryuk asked dejectedly from his corner. "You humans worry too much about how fabric fits."

Light lifted one leg and frowned. All his leg training with Nightwing was starting to change the way his clothes fit. He's need to get more serious about convincing the man that the new Batman was more about outsmarting the bad guys than punching them in the face.

Light tried on khakis six through fourteen, and found two pairs that were especially to his liking. When he turned to ask Ryuk his opinion on pair fifteen, he found that the Shinigami was gone. Shrugging his shoulders, Light moved to pairs fifteen through twenty.

He had just finished trying on pair twenty-five, when Ryuk showed up with a pile of clothes in his claws. "Hey look, Light, I found you some clothes with apples on them. These will be fun." He shoved the pile at Light.

Light made a face as he sorted through the clothes. The tiny apple-print tie was okay, he could probably send the 'big apple' t-shirt home to Sayu, but there was no way he'd buy apple-print boxers.

He threw the boxers and most of the t-shirts into his reject pile. "Ryuk, I am not going to wear apple print boxers. What if you accidentally eat them?"

"Well, you could buy me real apples instead of trying clothes on all day. How can you humans do this? It's so boring!"

Light sighed and looked at the pile of clothes that fit acceptably. Seven new pairs of khakis, three dress shirts, and a suit would have to do for now.

-

Light divided the rest of his time between sneaking apples to Ryuk, sightseeing, and texting L on his phone.

Later, Light also texted Sayu and sent her a selfie of himself in front of Central Park.

"Why do they call it the Big Apple, if there isn't a big apple?" Ryuk asked for the fourteenth time. His wings were drooping and his claws nearly dragged on the ground.

Light almost felt sorry for him, and slipped Ryuk another candied apple.

Sayu texted back: _What! You're in New York? No fair, why didn't you bring me?_

Suddenly, Light had a genius plan to keep both Carrie and Sayu occupied.

"Carrie, do you want to talk to my sister?" he asked. "She wants to come visit me here someday, but I told her she needs to learn more English first. Maybe you could practice with her."

"Oh, cool, Dick always tells me I need to practice my Japanese."

"Excellent," Light said as he dialed the phone number and handed it to Carrie.

Then he sat down on the park bench and took out his miniature bat computer. Light furrowed his brow when he discovered that someone had tried to hack into his batcomputer, interrupting his correspondence with L. Of course they hadn't succeeded, but they had managed to send him a message.

_Batman: How is a heart-attack like a lie detector machine?_

"I'll give you a heart attack alright," Light mumbled under his breath as he took a slip of paper from his wallet and wrote Edward Nygma on it. No-one got in between his rivalry with L. No-one. Not even the Riddler and his idiotic jokes.

.

-x-

.

Back at the Manor, Dick worked on leg day all by himself. He was just finishing his third hour of kicking and target practice when the doorbell rang.

He answered the door to find a strange pale, sickly looking man on his doorstep. "I'm Ryuzaki. L sent me here to start collaborating with Batman on a case," the man said, staring at him with wide eyes.

"Batman isn't here right now, but you're welcome to wait inside," Dick said cheerfully, holding the door open. He noticed that despite the stranger's slouching posture, he did seem to have a lot of ankle strength and flexibility.

"If you want we could work out together; I was just finishing my workout."

"That could be interesting," Ryuzaki said and gave a small smile. Then he leaped up and aimed a roundhouse kick at Dick's head.

Nightwing easily caught Ryuzaki's leg in one hand. "Not bad," he said. "But such an aggressive attack leaves you wide open for a counterattack and is easy to block." He laughed good-naturedly and dropped Ryuzaki's leg. "But let's move to the training room for this fight. If we dented up any of the furniture, Alfred would never let me hear the end of it."

-

"You have a lot of potential," Dick said, after mopping the floor with Ryuzaki almost as much as he had mopped the floor with Light, "and your leg strength is pretty good. If you continue training, you could be a good student someday."

Ryuzaki glared at him, and crawled up onto a chair. Then he pulled a donut out of his briefcase and began eating it.

Dick wrinkled his nose at Ryuzaki's choice in post work-out snack. "Healthier food helps you train better," he said, reaching for the fruit bowl. "I'd offer you an apple, but I think all we have are oranges and bananas. Strange."

Ryuzaki perked up at Dick's last words. "No apples? When did they disappear?"

Dick laughed and started eating a banana. "There's usually a lot of people around. They probably just all were eaten and Alfred hasn't bought more yet."

"Hmm," L said as he slid from the chair. "I'm afraid I can't wait any longer, but let Batman know I was here."

"Sure thing," Dick said as he let Ryuzaki out of the house, then went to the kitchen to make himself a post work-out protein smoothie.


End file.
